Tuesday, December 29, 2009

all of those muzak blogs have put in their favorite bands of '09so heres mine:best coast, hailing from LA, is one of my favs.they're shoe-gazey lo-fi pop, ultra reverb, and have candy-coated/heart-felt lyrics that are insanely catchy.its the kind of music you want to listen to when you are either at the beach on a warm summer day, or sitting in your room at night listening to the birds outside your window.they put one heck of show too.and as if that isnt enough to make you want to buy all their records and mark your calender every night in anticipation of their next show, their lead singer Bethany Cosentino's hazy 60's inspired pop vocal delivery is endearing and beautiful.

they dont come east much (in fact, their two cmj shows in october were their first east coast ventures according to Cosentino at her Monster Island show)enjoy the fuzzy cali lo-fi/pop:

Saturday, December 26, 2009

This skiers helmet-cam video is pretty amazing, especially if you've ever imagined what it would be like to be caught and buried in an avalanche. You might want to fast forward through some of the 4+ minutes that the guy is buried but it is pretty interesting to listen to his breathing and whimpering noises.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

so a little while back I talked about this thing ostensibly called 'Ground Hero'.looks like its actually happening,cause yesterday, after lots of delays, it was hoisted up:

the Subway was placed on top of a crane and will rise along with the Freedom Tower construction. the idea is to make the workers more efficient so they dont have to go all the way down the towers to get lunch, instead they can eat crap $5 foot-longs every day, for as long as it takes them to build it.

This has never really made sense, but I guess it doesn't have to. Apparently Crosby didn't even know who Bowie was, but wanted a young star on his show, and Bowie was enough of a Bing fan to take up the offer. Bowie showed up at the set, and refused to sing Little Drummer Boy, because he hated the song. The producers threw together an original for Bowie to sing along with, "peace on earth," in about an hour. They filmed it, Bowie hopped back on tour, and Bing died of a heart attack a month later, before the special even ran. Five years later it was released as a single, and for whatever reason became huge.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

there is a bill before the ugandan government that proposes to make homosexuality illegal. anyone who is caught or said to participate in homosexual activities would face life imprisonment and/or execution. but alleged homosexuals won't be the only targets. family members/friends/community members who fail to report homosexual activity would face several years in jail. even landlords could be imprisoned for renting to homosexuals. as if thats not enough, part of the bill decrees that all people diagnosed with AIDS/HIV+ would be put to death. all signs point to the bill being passed.who's to blame for this disgusting and out-rightly prejudice law? obviously the bias, homophobic, people in the government (spefically david bahati--ugandan politician/the guy responsible for the law) . but there's another group of hate-mongers hiding behind the wings of this whole thing: american-evangelical-christians. pastor rick (dick) warren (that jerk who spoke at obama's inauguration) says he has no connection to the bill, but he wont go so far as to condemn the legislation.anti-homosexuality is a problem that exists all over africa (see: the 'corrective' raping of lesbians in south africa; sexual preference surveys in kenya, where homosexuality in illegal). but that doesn't excuse them from letting some hate-filled, small-minded american christians from influencing their laws. the government denies heavy christian influence by saying it is the expression of the people's disgust and hatred of these 'repugnant practices'. it is unbelievable that in the 21st century archaic laws such as this are even thought of, considered, and let alone expected to pass. luckily the world's gay rights activists, gay rights groups, and human rights watch groups have put a real squeeze on the government of uganda, though it doesn't seem like its going to do much.

this is kind of an old story, but a good one.everyone knows climate change seems a little to scary to be true, or at least as terrible as people like al gore say.a few weeks ago a hacker broke into the computers at the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Group and released hundreds of personal e-mails between scientists as well as documents that suggested things like: climate change isn't as dramatic as politicians say; scientists are harassed into making data seem worse than it actually is; scientists suppress data that would counter scary climate change propaganda.people are calling it 'climate-gate' and everyone is wondering what the real data says and why this group of scientists weren't/aren't upfront about their data.

so whats up with climate change then? are we all gonna drown in 10 years or not?are all scientists just political pawns?should i or should i not buy a blow-up pool for my rooftop in the expectation that next december will feel like august?are all those cutesy polar bears really dying?is it acceptable to suppress/alter climate change data, if in the end that suppression/alteration ultimately leads people to live a more 'carbon-free' lifestyle, and in turn prevents any further 'climate change'(whatever that means)?

still though, people who denying climate change even existing at all are kinda coo-coo. this isnt the issue, its how much change is actually occurring.

"Tea and coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a large body of evidence shows.

And the protection may not be down to caffeine since decaf coffee has the greatest effect, say researchers in Archives of Internal Medicine.

They looked at 18 separate studies involving nearly 500,000 people.

This analysis revealed that people who drink three or four cups of coffee or tea a day cut their risk by a fifth or more, say researchers.

The same amount of decaffeinated coffee had an even bigger effect, lowering risk by a third.

Type 2 diabetes usually starts after the age of 40 and develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly. Type 2 diabetes is treated with a healthy diet and increased physical activity. In addition to this, medication and/or insulin is often required..."

Saturday, December 12, 2009

"A man who plays New England's professional football mascot has been arrested for soliciting someone to pat his patriot.

The Rhode Island State Police announced a slew of recent arrests for prostitution-related crimes. The list includes 47-year-old Robert Sormanti, who is one of the several people who don the outfit of the Patriots mascot.

"The Pat Patriot mascot costume is worn by multiple people, each of whom are held responsible and accountable for their actions. The individual in question has been suspended," the team said in a statement Friday night. "The mascot responsibilities will continue to be fulfilled by others."

The arrest of Sormanti and 13 others are the first since Rhode Island's governor closed a loophole that made "indoor prostitution" legal.

The real victims here are the other unlucky guys and gals who dress as Pat Patriot. Sormanti just guaranteed them Sundays filled with sarcastic, heckling jokes.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Thursday, December 10, 2009

last night for several minutes, this strange spiraling light was seen over the Norwegian town of Skjervoy. no one knows what it is, and thousands of people saw it, recordered it, and some promptly 'youtubed' it. here's some video's:

(ignore the lame-ass music in this one)

(and here's a news story about it)

one problem:no one knows what the hell it is. some people thinks it was aliens (obviously), some say it was the 'northern lights' (because this town is so close to the arctic circle), and some say it was a russian missile test gone awry. claiming a missile self-destructed and the spiral was the result of this(the russians deny this point). side note: i have a friend who baby-sits for daniel pinchbeck (ufo theorists/hallucinogenic drug advocate/author of books on 2012) and he claims that this event corresponds with the hopi indian prophecy of a blue star or blue kachina (read here) accourding to the prophecy a blue star (potentially like this one) will signify the start a "cleansing war." is this it?pinchbeck (very off the record--and very second hand--thinks it is possible).anyway, at least we can all agree it is freaking weird/cool to look at.am it right?

darnielle on the characters in his songs:"I have loads of affection for them all, for sure," he said. "But my relationship to most of them is the relationship you have with a close friend who you know is also a chronic liar."

its a classic trying to find your long lost dad story, with an interesting twist...the guys dad is charles manson. 41 year-old LA DJ Mathew Roberts discovered this week that his long gone pops is the crazy, swastika laden, Helter-Skelter head Manson.Roberts' mother claims Manson raped her in 1967 after she joined his cult. Apparently the two talk and exchange letters (Manson always signs with a swastika)and Roberts says Manson is a nice guy. One thing, he's afraid he's inheretid parts of his father....like father like son?hopefully not.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

This song is huge. I don't think I can recall a song in America that reached a level of popularity like what this seems to hold in Korea right now. And yet I don't get the impression that this song is anything special within Korean culture. I guess since music industry is smaller and perhaps less diverse than in the states, when a pop song blows up here you hear it every 15 minutes, whether you're in a restaurant, bar, grocery store, or walking down the street. I feel like when I'm out there is a pretty consistent set of 5 or 6 Korean pop songs in the background. I'm sure it will be another set of song in three or six months. It's also pretty interesting merging; the biggest pop song in the country is also essentially a four minute advertisement for the Chocolate phone, from LG, one of the biggest companies in Korea. At times I think that Korea embodies a more rabid and aggressive form of capitalism than the states, but thats another, more drunken blog post in a few months.

I know this video is insanely old, but I hadn't seen it until some Good ol boy in mississippi showed it to me on his iphone. We later discusses his belief that the nation is becoming socialist, and I discussed how religious fundamentalist has destroyed the republican party. Anyway, nothing like videos mocking people for doing dumb shit, even if they are a year old.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

At first I was a bit bitter about the new tony hawk game where you stand on a specially designed board to control the skater. If you're going to drop $120 to play a game that makes it feel like you're really skating why not by a $120 skateboard and do the real thing? But then, I saw this video, where a dog gets in on it and kills it.

I can't think of a better video game for dogs. While some folks who force their dogs to ride real skateboards are a bit cruel, people who let their dogs in the rotation for tony hawk ride are allowing their pets to go where no four legged creature has gone before.

So far it's just a preview, but the potential within the wave format seems pretty cool. If anyone wants this, comment in the box below. Each person gets 8 free invites with a new googlewave account. it'd be smarter if we made a chain so each of us only used up one invite instead of one person using up a bunch of invite. we could set that up in the comment box.

"METHUEN, Mass. – A Massachusetts woman who recently separated from her husband and had her hours cut at work says an image of Jesus Christ she sees on her iron has reassured her that "life is going to be good."

Mary Jo Coady first noticed the image Sunday when she walked into her daughter's room.

The brownish residue on the bottom of the iron looks like the face of a man with long hair.

The 44-year-old Coady was raised Catholic. She and her two college-age daughters agree that the image looks like Jesus and is proof that "he's listening."

Coady tells The Eagle-Tribune she hopes her story will inspire others during the holidays. She says she plans to keep the iron in a closet"

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

i remember when i went to see eyedea and abilities with friends scott i. and paul el. we didn't even make it through the opening act because of multiple gatorade bottles filled with 151. paul even tried to fight this 6'6, irish middle east bouncer who looked like butterbean.

EDIT// Gone. If you missed it, its worth looking around for.This is a 45 minute documentary made in the mid 60s before Leonard started his music career. Really great stuff. Its only up for a few more days, so watch it now.

We seem to be on the edge of a paradigm shift. Orchestras are struggling to stay alive, rock has been relegated to the underground, jazz has stopped evolving and become a dead art, the music industry itself has been subsumed by corporate culture and composers are at their wit’s end trying to find something that’s hip but still appeals to an audience mired in a 19th-century sensibility. For more than half a century we’ve seen incredible advances in sound technology but very little if any advance in the quality of music. In this case the paradigm shift may not be a shift but a dead stop. Is it that people just don’t want to hear anything new? Or is it that composers and musicians have simply swallowed the pomo line that nothing else new can be done, which ironically is really just the “old, old story.”

Certainly music itself is not dead. We’ll continue to hear something approximating it blaring in shopping malls, fast food stops, clothing stores and wherever else it will mesmerize the consumer into excitedly pulling out their credit card or debit card or whatever might be coming. There’s no question that in music, like politics, the bigger the audience gets the more the “message” has to be watered down. Muzak’s been around for a long time now but maybe people just can’t tell the difference anymore. Maybe even the composers and songwriters can’t tell the difference either. Especially when it’s paying for a beach house in Malibu and a condo in New York.

Of course, we could all just listen to all of our old albums, CD’s and mp3’s. In fact, nowadays that’s where the industry makes most of its money. We could also just watch old movies and old TV shows. There are a lot of them now. Why bother making any new ones? Why bother doing anything new at all? Why bother having any change or progress at all as long as we’ve got “growth”? I’m just wondering if this is in fact the new paradigm. I’m just wondering if in fact the new music is just the old music again. And, if that in fact it would actually just be the end of music.

"GIBSON, La. – A real estate agent showing a house got to the basement and found about 100 human bones in a corner. James Kenny, a forensic investigator with the Terrebonne Parish Coroner's Office, says the bones found Saturday were so old that dirt had saturated the marrow inside them. He says they probably are remains of Native Americans buried long before the house was built.

Kenny says he learned that the previous residents would often find bones while mowing the lawn or doing yard work, and would put them in the basement.

Half of the split-level house is on top of a circular mound, which parish officials suggest may be an Indian burial mound.

Neither the agent nor the home's owner would talk to The Courier of Houma."

Hailing from the great state of Virginia, Joe Dresnok joined the military after dropping out of school and was stationed near the DMZ in South Korea. Shortly after finding out that his wife had left him, Dresnok left base without permission for a night of drinking and whoring, and upon returning was notified that he would be court marshaled. Outraged, Dresnok decided that he was through with the military. Shortly after, at noon and in broad daylight, Dresnok ran across the minefields of the DMZ, the most heavily fortified place on earth, and some how managed to make it into North Korea without being blown up or shot. He was then arrested, and brought to the capitol for interrogation.

After awhile in North Korea, Dresnok, and 3 other American defectors decided that, in fact, North Korea wasn't that great a place to live, and tried to seek asylum at the Soviet embassy in Pyongyang. However, the Soviets immediately turned them over to the North Koreans, after which Joe decided he would try to make his home in North Korea. For Joe,this meant starring in North Korean propaganda films as the evil American. He garnered a great deal of celebrity in North Korea for these films, and was provided a relatively cushy government stipend by North Korean standards, which he continued to enjoy as millions of North Koreans starved to death. Dresnok maintains that the "dear leader" is a great man, and says we would never go back to America for any amount of money.

I first heard about the documentary on Joe shortly before leaving for Korea, but haven't been able to find it here yet. Nonetheless, the 60 minutes piece seems to give a pretty good overview on the story. Great job bud.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Not really too much new stuff in this video, but there was a whole lot of real talk in this episode, and I figured Palin is a sexier headliner than Lou Dobbs. The extended interview is worth watching if you've got the time.

"NEW YORK – You'll need to be 21 to take a bite out of this Thanksgiving turkey. New York City tavern owner Paul Hurley said he'll unveil what he is calling the nation's first 100-proof turkey on Monday. A spokesman for the owner of O'Casey's Tavern in Midtown Manhattan said that the bird is infused with fruit-flavored and 100-proof Georgi vodka for three days before being cooked. The flavors of vodka include peach, raspberry, cherry and apple.

The gravy is also laced with the distilled liquor.

Out of concern for the danger of drinking-and-driving, the tavern is offering free taxi ride home to anyone who orders the turkey.

It wasn't immediately clear how much it will cost to have some of the boozy bird."

Friday, November 20, 2009

"Customs officials at the Los Angeles Harbor received a shipment from China listed as Christmas ornaments.

But when they opened the "presents" Tuesday, they found 316,000 bongs and pipes.

“They’re very colorful and big,” said Cristina Gamez, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “Some of them are like 2 feet tall.”

Gamez said glass bongs and pipes, contained in nearly 860 boxes of cargo, are worth about $2.6 million.

The package arrived a month ago but was seized Tuesday at the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex. The manifest listing the cargo’s contents said Christmas ornaments were inside. They were addressed to someone in L.A. County.

Gamez said no arrests have been made, and an investigation is pending. She said that it is illegal to import, export or sell drug paraphernalia in the United States and that all the items would be destroyed."

"THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – A 39-year-old Southern California man has been arrested for misdemeanor child annoyance after allegedly paying a teenager $31 to spit in his face. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department says Charles Hersel was arrested Wednesday in a sting operation at a mall in Thousand Oaks. He's free from jail pending a court hearing.

A sheriff's statement says Westlake High School students claimed Hersel paid them to yell profanities, spit and slap him in the face. Several also claimed he offered them cash to urinate and defecate on him.

A motive wasn't clear.

Authorities say Hersel contacted some teens through the MySpace social networking site."

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Monday, November 16, 2009

I used to pass the ground site everyday, and nothing ever seemed to be going on there, but finally the guys making the calls have made a huge decision...to build a Subway sandwich shop on a crane at the ground zero / freedom towers site.

not really sure why, they claim its to keep the workers from going up and down from the site during shifts, but i know its some sercret robot conspiracy meeting place.wonder what clever patriotic names the subs will have?

Saturday, November 14, 2009

bijou park is about a mile from our house in south lake tahoe and it's the shit. nestled in a forest of tall pines there's a locally built concrete skatepark, a 27 hole frolf course, basketball courts, and a dog park. because of the pines, the u-bowl, and the vert quarter pipe this place reminds me of the old litchfield skate park stomping grounds. it wasn't hard to feel right at home here. there's a bunch of cool up and comer locals as well as a large supply of older concrete shredders. here's an edit i put together today:

so i met this guy at a party at some house with a stage and some live music with willy in littleton a while back. mostly old dead heads but some interesting do it yourselfers among the bunch. one such individual named perry happened to declare he had massive quanities of homegrown pot with nobody to smoke it with. willy and i bravely stepped in and after three or four massive joints we realized we had both lived at 34 nichols ave. appearently they used to call the house the "yacht club."

aiight so we took a trip over the pass today to reno and hit a sick concrete park, took some vid, and made an edit in crummy shitty imovie... check it

the snake river canyon whatever park is really fun. just look at the thousand foot snake run. in fact, i've never been to a park that offered a better time to as broad a range of skateboarders. pretty sure this park stays sunny and dry all winter so we can take snowboarding breaks and shred this. anyone who wants to come out and skate, snowboard, gamble, whatever, this park is a convenient five minutes from the airport. so i'll pick you up and we'll shred on our way back to tahoe. yeah and don't worry we'll hit the in-n-out burger on the way home. don't forget to say animal style when you place your order.

SEOUL – The two Koreas briefly exchanged naval fire Tuesday along their disputed western sea border, with a North Korean ship suffering heavy damage before retreating, South Korean military officials said. There were no South Korean casualties, the country's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties on the North Korean side.

The North's patrol boat crossed the disputed western sea border Tuesday morning, drawing warning shots from a South Korean navy vessel, the statement said. The North Korean boat then opened fire and the South's ship returned fire before the North's vessel sailed back toward its waters, the statement said. The North Korean ship was seriously damaged in the skirmish while the South Korean ship was unscathed, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.There was no immediate comment from North Korea on the clash. Navies of the two Koreas fought deadly skirmishes along the western sea border in 1999 and 2002.

No South Korean sailors were killed in 1999, but six south Korean sailors were killed in 2002, according to the South Korean navy. It said exact North Korean causalities remain unclear. The two Koreas have yet to agree on their sea border more than 50 years after the end of their 1950-53 civil war, which ended in an armistice and not a permanent peace treaty. Instead, they rely on a line that the then-commander of U.N. forces, which fought for the South, drew unilaterally at the end of the conflict.

North Korea last month accused South Korean warships of broaching its territory in waters off the west coast and warned of a clash in the zone, which is a rich crab fishing area. The latest conflict comes amid international tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons program and expectations that Pyongyang and the United States may soon engage in direct talks. Meanwhile, there were no signs of tension along the heavily fortified land border separating the two Koreas. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that were no unusual troop movements on the North Korean side of the land border.

Yaddah from Korea! It's been all good times so far, but I'll keep my eyes out for any pesky North Koreans running around. We live 10 miles from the border, so in the event of a land invasion expect live breaking blogage from our rooftop.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Friday, November 6, 2009

Not sure if I'm completely clueless for not ever seeing this movie, but its awesomely bad. It's on my new TV box for free I watched it, laughed my ass off and Jammed a few Smoking 1986 Venice beach vixens. Wait for the epic downhill battle at the end.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

CONWAY, S.C. – A South Carolina man caught on video having sex with a horse was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison after pleading guilty for the second time in two years to abusing the creature.

Rodell Vereen was also ordered never to go near the stable where the horse's owner caught him and held him for authorities at shotgun point over the summer. He apologized to the woman and to himself after admitting to buggery at the Horry County courthouse.

"I'm sorry about what I've done. I didn't mean to do it. It's my fault. I'm sorry for what I've done to myself," Vereen said during Wednesday's court hearing.

Vereen was arrested in July after Barbara Kenley caught him entering the barn at Lazy B Stables in Longs, about 20 miles northeast of Myrtle Beach. She had been staking out the stable for more than a week after setting up a surveillance camera and videotaping Vereen's assault on her 21-year-old horse named Sugar.

Kenley said she became suspicious because her horse was acting strange and getting infections, and she noticed things were moved around the barn and dirt was piled up near the horse's stall.

It wasn't the first time she'd caught Vereen. In late 2007, Kenley found him asleep in the hay after assaulting her horse. For that offense, he also pleaded guilty to buggery, received probation and had to register as a sex offender.

On Wednesday, the judge sentenced Vereen to five years in prison, but he will only have to serve three years behind bars as long as he successfully completes two years of probation. Vereen also was ordered to undergo additional mental treatment after he gets out of prison and was told to stay away from Kenley's stable.

it is with great joy, fellow bloggers, that i report smokestack willy as alive and well. us PI's around the puddle received a special care package today complete with ancient willy artifacts and jam enablers (condom, orange pantyhose, etc.). our morale has improved drastically since the arrival of the package and we are about to take tahoe by storm with our jammers plowing the way. if you would like a fuller description of willy's condition, see the picture of the attached letter.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

its like someone in the 6o's invented a time machine, and these girls went into the future and saw a gg & the jabbers show, went back to 1967, covered "dont talk to me" with their garage/psych band, and then decided their generation wouldnt understand and traveled to '09